Federal fight against meth.

• Position: TRENDS AND TRANSITIONS - Brief article

The feds have jumped into the fight against methamphetamine with the passage of the Federal Combat Methamphetamine Epidemic Act of 2005, signed into law on March 9 as part of the USA Patriot Act. The law incorporates many of the provisions that states have enacted in recent years to stop the abuse of cold medicine in the production of methamphetamine.

The federal law imposes a limitation on the amount of medications that can be sold in a single transaction. Beginning Sept. 30, retailers must display the most abused ephedrine-based products "in a...